Trump says Apple will buy computer chips from Intel

President Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that Apple is looking to buy computer chips from Intel. The deal would be a major breakthrough for Intel, the troubled Silicon Valley chipmaker that has struggled to find big customers in recent years.

While neither company has publicly discussed the deal, it would also be a significant moment for the Trump administration’s efforts to boost domestic chip production.

Apple is among the world’s largest buyers of semiconductors. But for more than a decade, it has made most of the chips that power its iPhones, Macs and other devices in Taiwan, an island that China considers a breakaway territory.

The Trump administration is pushing Apple to make more of its technology in the United States and has threatened to impose tariffs on semiconductors that Apple made overseas. Last year, the administration increased its pressure on Apple after it acquired a 10 percent stake in Intel for $8.9 billion.

“I decided to help Intel because we need to design and manufacture our chips right here in America,” Trump said in a post on social media.

Intel declined to comment, and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In his post, Mr. Trump detailed his efforts to bring the semiconductor industry “back to the U.S.” He said the administration helped convince Nvidia to buy a $5 billion stake in Intel last year. He later worked with Elon Musk, the president said, to negotiate a deal with Intel to use its technology to run a chip manufacturing plant called Terafab that Mr. Musk is developing. Finally, Mr Trump said in his post: “Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture its chips in America.”

Intel shares rose more than 6 percent on the news, boosting its market value to $650 billion. When the U.S. government took a stake in August, the company was worth about $100 billion.

Apple is unlikely to start making chips with Intel before 2028, said Ben Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies, a technology research firm. Tech companies spend years developing chips and evaluating manufacturers before making semiconductors with them. It is a complex process that takes about 24 months.

Apple is expected to produce a small volume of its chips with Intel, Mr. Bajarin said. The iPhone maker could rely on Intel factories to first make semiconductors for its Macs and later expand into iPhone chips.

Intel, which designs and manufactures the chips that handle the calculations in most of the world’s personal computers, lost its leadership in manufacturing technology to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company late last decade. It also missed out on shipments of mobile phone processors and the emerging market for artificial intelligence systems.

About five years ago, Intel embarked on an ambitious plan to introduce five new manufacturing processes over four years while retooling itself as a manufacturer for other chip designers while making its own products. But Intel struggled to convince potential customers, including Apple, to work with it because the processes fell well short of those offered by TSMC.

The chipmaking market has changed over the past year as demand for semiconductors has surged due to the artificial intelligence boom. TSMC scrambled to build new plants to meet rising demand, but it couldn’t make all the chips customers wanted.

Apple, TSMC’s biggest customer, has been replaced in this role by Nvidia, the world leader in AI chips. The change gave Apple reason to reconsider Intel, Mr. Bajarin said.

At the same time, Intel introduced a new manufacturing process that it is starting to sell to customers. Mr. Bajarin said the process closed some of the gap with TSMC.

“Every manufacturer is running at full capacity and that’s not changing,” Mr. Bajarin said. “But this is massive validation from Apple for Intel, and that’s all it takes for customers to say, ‘If they’re going to go for it, then I should consider it too.’